


Behind The Curtain

by Capernoited



Category: South Park
Genre: I was gonna do the fbi, Kenny isn't stupid, M/M, My boys are smart and protective, but children, kyle's a hacker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-23 09:51:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13784976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capernoited/pseuds/Capernoited
Summary: To truly find what someone is made of, you must break them.How gentle the reaction depends on who you've made snap.





	Behind The Curtain

**Author's Note:**

> Finish the fics I already have?? What is that??? Never heard of it

Maybe most regular days for Kyle weren't avoiding the police, but today had just been one of those days, y'know?   
  
Normal- or what he perceived to be normal sixteen year olds - didn't go around getting a criminal record. Someone had to make sure everything Eric had done was documented somewhere, he didn't have the brainpower to remember it all - It was either failing already or Cartman had only been arrested twice, and that couldn't be right.

Probably more, but that was besides the point. All he wanted was have it written somewhere officially that Eric Cartman was a piece of shit, and now he was being called out of classes because the police had finally caught on. The look Stan shot him was half worry, half anger as Kyle stood from his seat to leave- It was a look that read "I told you to stop fucking digging your own grave" but at least he was concerned. If Kyle suddenly went missing in the next few hours at least someone could guess what happened- maybe he'd even look for him when he did.  
  
If he had been anyone else, he might've run. The smart idea would have been to leave school, go home and relocate to Russia. But he was no lesser man, and he faced his fucking problems head on, sue him.

Marching himself down to the office the knock was a formality, not giving time for an answer before letting himself in. The people in there were obviously ready for him anyway, but three government officials weren't going to make him intimidated. How could he be scared of some pussies with security so bad a teenager could break through it? Anger rising after being pulled from class he wanted to keep things short, not bothering to sit down. Instead, he folded his arms, a scowl on his face as he spat out a "what?"  
  
"Son, do you know why you're here?"  
  
The condescending tone of the officer enraged him further- Of course he did, he wasn't fucking retarded, and there was nothing else he had actually done that would require anyone higher than the police on his ass. "No, of course I don't because I'm stupid. Why did you pull me from my lessons for this bullshit- just hurry it along, I want to get back to class."  
  
His tone seemed to shift their attitude, and the lady stepped closer to him and placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. It was tight, and heavy, and the presence of it made him feel smaller, but a Broflovski did not back down. "You do realise we could lock you away for this? You could go to juvie, and you're acting like a brat."   
  
Her epaulettes proved she was most likely the highest ranked in the room, so she had the authority to speak her mind without backlash. He didn't doubt that she would have either way- they all saw a child who'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. They didn't seem intimidated by him at all, made all the more clear by the fact they had worn civvies instead of anything even close to confronting someone dangerous.

They underestimated him because he was young. He hated it.

  
Given, he probably couldn't take them down himself all at once anyway. They knew the best he could do was blackmail the three of them, and he wasn't too interested in that when they were just doing their job. Everyone had to make a living somehow, it was just a shame they made theirs butting heads with him.  
  
Lifting his hand to grab her wrist firmly, he moved it off of his shoulder forcefully. "I don't like physical contact." Was all that it took for one of the lower ranking men to step forward. "Look, kid, we don't want any trouble. We can let you off with a warning-" The lady seemed to want to interrupt, looking scandalised, but he seemed to brush her off easily. " _IF_ you swear you won't do it again. If you do, we will have no choice but to throw you away without any previous warnings. We know you've done this before. We know that you've just been going through different IP addresses, but we don't exactly have any _evidence_ on that fact. Just... stay out of trouble."  
  
"Sure," he shrugged, leaving the room as a heated argument began behind him. He sort of wished he could listen to it, but getting back to class was more important. The period was nearly over, so he'd just be picking up his shit before lunch began and trying to explain to Stan what exactly had happened. As he walked into the classroom he earned a sympathetic look from Mr. Stkrdknmibalz, but he really didn't deserve it. He had to be more careful, and he had been tripping on security lately, so it was his own fault. Sitting down would be absolutely pointless, but he did anyway to wait for the last minutes to be over.   
  
Stan was practically vibrating in his seat to talk to his friend, and did nothing to cover that fact, so it was no surprise to Kyle when he scrambled over desks the second the bell went. "What the fuck happened, dude? What was it this time?"  
  
Gathering his things carefully and pushing them into his backpack, he sighed. "Same thing it was last time. I've been getting sloppy."   
  
That answer didn't satisfy his best bud, Stan rushing back to his desk to grab his bag and heading back to his friend, the two walking together to the cafeteria. They could hold a proper conversation sat down, with fewer interruptions- although if Kenny arrived before Kyle explained their talk would be cut short. Not everything was shared, but he fully believed it was just because the parka clad boy blew off schooling for work sometimes. It wasn't bad, but this also meant he wasn't in all of the same classes as them anymore, which was kind of a downer. He was really quite fun to be around, and that only skyrocketed over the years.  
  
Stan had joked about it once when the other wasn't around, saying that Kyle was over-exaggerating, but he stood firmly on this fact. Stan just accepted that the two had grown closer over the years, but maybe he and Kenny didn't share the same sentiment.

They did their best not to associate with Eric Cartman.

Cafeteria food terrible as always, the only person who didn't complain was Stan- the things they fucked up always contained meat and he was a vegetarian. Thank god he didn't wave it in peoples faces like some vegans did, Kyle would fucking kill himself. His pack lunch today should consist of: a tuna sandwich, a BLT (Which he saved for Kenny, he had started bringing extra sandwiches for him a few years back) a few pieces of fruit, a bottle of juice, in case of a diabetic attack; and water. It was probably too much, but his mother had always been known for it anyway, this wasn't something out of the ordinary.   
  
Kenny was already sitting down by the time they arrived in the lunchroom, waving them over with a grin- well, it was assumed he was grinning the way his eyes crinkled and his features brightened. "Guys! Over here!" They didn't have a set spot, seeing as they were the kind of people not in cliques; They had their own little group that suited them just fine, so moving around the tables whenever they were to sit and eat was not a problem. If the cliques sat in the same place, the drifters were the only ones that moved, and there were always group spots, or enough for at least three, seeing as no group was really bigger than four people when not in a huge group of nerds, or jocks.  
  
The two of them made their way over, weaving through the starving teenagers to get to the single, probably genuinely starved teen in the school. Kyle sat down across from the malnourished boy, Stan pulling up a chair to sit at the end of the table as not to pick a side. Kyle rifled through his lunch, pulling out a sandwich and a piece of fruit to give to Kenny; although at first he had hated being pitied (as Kenny saw it) Kyle had insisted and kept bringing them, simply telling him he wasn't going to stop and 'it would go in the bin otherwise.'  
  
Maybe he had just relented because wasting something like food was a low blow, but everything had its breaking point; It took six months, but Kyle held on through it all, his stubbornness rearing its head. Every time they had a group get together it was at Kyle's house for this exact reason. Not only did his mother accept buying junk food whenever you wanted, but if she did make food, she gave everyone the largest portions and sent them home with leftovers. She often gave Kenny a bit more than Stan because she knew he would share it with his siblings, but if she didn't give Stan any, Kenny would outright refuse, even under her wrath.  
  
As they were all seated and eating, Kenny having unzipped his coat a little to reach his mouth he was finally able to speak unhindered- Not enough that his neck was visible, just to the edge of his lips, barely attempting to show his chin. "Dude, pretty much everyone heard you got the police on your ass, what'd you do?"   
  
The redhead shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich. Stan shot him a look. "It was just something stupid, nothing really. Just drop it." Kenny looked miffed that Kyle wasn't telling him, but he kept his mouth shut, looking to Stan for answers. He wouldn't receive any because super-best-friend code was super-solid and that meant he was totally fucked for information on any sort of... whatever. He would need the answers out of Kyle himself if he wanted them.   
  
"Obviously it wasn't if you got the fucking FBI or whatever after you-" 

"I said, just drop it" Kyle scowled, but Kenny was persistent. "So you can't keep pushing me away until things go spiralling. I can help you, do you not see me as trustworthy?" His hurt expression and Kyle's soft spot was the only thing that stopped him reaching over the table, grabbing him by the top of the hood and slamming his face into the table repeatedly; Kenny knew this, he had seen Kyle's anger in action and had been on the receiving end of a few (pulled) punches to some of his bad jokes. It was not foreign. Instead, he got a harsh kick to the shin and an angry glare. "It's not something I want to spread around."  
  
The frown on Kenny's face from the kick deepened and his food was crushed in his hands. "So you don't think you can trust me not to spread things? Thanks, Kyle."   
  
It wasn't hard to piss Kenny off if you were the right person, but close friends he had gotten used to. A surefire way to rile him up was to insinuate he couldn't keep his mouth shut, or that you could not at all rely on him, and that was what Kyle seemed to be implying at the moment.   
  
With a huff, the redhead put his sandwich down and matched the glare shot his way. Surely Kenny knew he was saying he wanted as few people to know as possible- namely, just Stan, but apparently not. If Kenny wanted to tell Stan something private, he would totally understand and not blow it out of proportion. Maybe it was the fact him and Stan were thick as thieves and would share any information with each other and nobody else. "I didn't mean it like that you prick, I just want to keep it on the DL."   
  
This time Kenny pulled himself together to hide for the storm that was beneath the surface, standing to leave and express his emotions elsewhere- he could control his anger unlike someone else sat at the table. Stan seemed to be staying out of the argument and it was probably for the best; the amount of squabbles Stan and Kyle got into by this point the best thing to do was let them happen and fix them up later. They were so close that it was always happening, like an old married couple.

Kyle and Kenny didn't argue, though. It was almost unheard of, as they clicked more like a magnet rather than two puzzle pieces. They were almost polar opposites, but he figured if you flipped a double sided magnet on one side, they would repel. What worried the blond most as he walked away from the table was he knew that this meant they more than likely wouldn't stay on speaking terms for a long ass time.   
  
As he was about to round the corner, Kyle grabbed his arm and pulled him back, both actions causing Kenny to flinch and swing straight into the doorway. Kyle let go like he'd put his hand on a hot stove, ashamed his actions had caused injury to his friend even in this moment of turmoil. Kenny shot him a hurt gaze and left without another word, Kyle letting him.  
  
Stan came up behind him to place a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it as comfortingly as he could. "Don't worry dude, Kenny'll come around."   


 

It had been a full day without him posting on social media, sending any messages, or visiting either of the super best friends and Kyle felt a sinking feeling he'd gone too far; Telling him wouldn't cause too much of a big deal, but apologising was not something he found easy. His ego was too fragile.  
  
Texting Stan all night had not helped his guilt, as he kept trying to divert the conversation to something else, and in the morning it was the same. At the bus stop he found himself asking for any news on the blond, coming up empty on all accounts.  
  
And then he made his way to the bus stop with a black eye.  
  
Stan reached over as though going to inspect it, Kyle refusing to acknowledge his existence just in case this meant they were back to being on speaking terms. "Holy shit dude, what happened?!" But no amount of coaxing could get more than malicious whispers. "A certain someone slammed me into a wall yesterday, remember?" If he wasn't paying extra attention to the conversation, Kyle would not have caught those words at all, even in such close proximity. But he did and it was eating him up just thinking about it. 

No. If he gave in, Kenny would win and he couldn't not allow that.  
  
The rest of the day went by in a blur, but the redhead found himself looking over at Kenny more than he should. It was a good job the girls weren't looking for something new to gossip about, or his actions could have consequences. Something just felt... off. He had been staring at him nearly the whole day, and he wasn't being subtle about anything- he was analysing. Most people know that he mumbles when he's analysing, and Kenny probably clocked because he didn't say anything.

Then again they were supposed to be ignoring each other.   
  
At the start of the day he refused to so much as look at the blond and what injuries he sustained, but by the time he had he couldn't look away. The large purple mottled mark was over his left eye, making it swollen and barely functional. Brown-yellow bruising was smacked over his cheekbone, the colour made it look like it might have happened before the eye injury. Maybe it had been the wall, as he'd have to have his head tilted to hit his eye even if the skin around it was sensitive. When close enough, it even looked like he had a cut on his eyebrow, scabbed into the hair and making it stick to his face. That made him think again what happened yesterday; Kenny flinched.  
  
If you grab someone usually they don't flinch back from you unless it's a threat or you were scared. It was very visible that Kenny was not scared of him, facing him head on with everything he threw, never backing down. It was actually the first time he had seen the other boy flinch at all- Not even when people were charging at him in football; he took it with a grin and a bloody face. To flinch at something so small was really odd.

  
Come lunch time, Kenny wasn't even in sight, so Kyle assumed he had taken it off for work- maybe just to get away from him. He was a smart cookie and if he actually tried then yeah sure he could work through school in a breeze. He just didn't try.  


After everyone had went home, he went to his house to change into something dark, covering his hair and grabbing his laptop before heading over the train tracks to Kenny's house. He would definitely be at work, Kyle had his schedule memorised, but sometimes he left earlier than others, so it was always a rough estimate. He should definitely be gone by these times, and if he got back early there would be a tiny bit of wriggle room but not by much especially if he wasn't finished.   
  
Sneaking into his house wasn't hard, Kenny never locked his windows and Kyle was more than fit enough to at least sneak into a house he knew. There was a chest in front of the window for Kyle to clamber onto and hopping in, he closed the window behind him. Under Kenny's bed was the laptop he was here for. Opening it up and turning it on, he waited for it to load up as he listened to the sound of parent's squabbling loudly in front of the television. Once it was on, he plugged his computer into Kennys and opened up his custom malware program, doing the work himself instead of hoping that Kenny was dumb enough (he wasn't) to open a porn link in an email.  
  
Once it was up, he worked through the program to get to what he wanted, pulling his computer over to start coding to connect the two devices. He needed a way to catalogue the information, and he had a pretty large chunk of the previous exploits he no longer needed wiped, leaving space for anything he might find on Kenny's home life. It honestly wasn't hard to do this when you had the computer of the target sitting right in front of you, but since he knew Kenny should be coming back soon, he didn't have long. Kenny had the oldest laptop in the world that took twenty minutes to start up alone; it was worse than a blackberry.  
  
A few minutes before he was done, he heard the telltale of a door, and he picked up both computers, taking them into the closet and closing it behind him. placing his behind him and Kenny's in front of him, he calmly continued to code through the cheap firewalls protecting this hunk of shit. It was a surprise he had any, but he figured that Kenny didn't want to have to fork out money for something that didn't need it if he paid the cheap subscription to something to protect his computer. Cheaper than buying a new one or getting it repaired at least.  
  
The door to the room opened, but Kyle wasn't exactly worried. If Kenny found him he could guess he was doing something suspicious, but that was the thing; he wasn't going to get caught.   
  
Kenny sat down on his bed, reaching under it to feel for his laptop but it didn't seem to be there. He didn't think much was off although he never moved his laptop unless it was on his lap or he let Karen use it, but Karen hadn't used his computer in weeks- no harm in checking. It was a safer assumption than someone breaking into his shithole of a place to steal anything.

"Karen? Have you seen my laptop?" He made sure to lean out of his doorway so she could hear him over the noise their parents were making as per usual. The brightly decorated door opened, stickers peeling off the paintwork as the baby of the family peeked out to see her brother. "Sorry Ken, I haven't seen it since you let me watch Adventure Time." He gave her a smile, thanking her before closing his door and flopping down on his bed. Whipping out his phone with a frustrated sigh, he messaged Stan to tell him that he'd lost it in their group chat, tears filling his eyes as a _ping_  went off from inside his closet.  
  
Facing it he noticed a light coming from under the door, and as he got up he heard a shift of movement behind the rickety wood. Speeding up the process of flinging the door open he found nothing but an open laptop with his messenger open and one new message from Stan. It didn't feel right, though, because he left the volume off or very low, always, because Karen didn't deserve to have her poor mind tainted over such things. It still wasn't right, and he could feel himself getting anxious, but he was overthinking. He had protection on his laptop, it would notify him of anything that was dangerous to his computer.

 

Just in case he covered his camera.


End file.
